The Asian Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (AJSoTL) is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access, online journal. AJSoTL seeks to create and nurture a global network of
academics and educators who will discuss ongoing changes and future trends in tertiary education.

Instructions to Authors

Categories of Articles Accepted

Articles: An article may include original research or present a literature review of current or recent work, potential new methods, or ideas which are carefully elaborated and argued as well as contextualised within relevant conceptual and theoretical areas. Articles must clearly define an issue or problem, include some analysis or evaluation of the issue, and be linked to the education/SoTL literature. We require articles to have an analytical/critical/evaluative slant, and not merely be descriptive. Articles are peer reviewed by at least two external reviewers. [4000-6000 words, to include abstract and references].

Reflections on Practice: These are concise, critical reflections that provide an evaluation of teaching and learning practice(s) relevant to the author’s own discipline/s or that explore, with reference to current literature, key concepts in higher education. Authors could offer a critique/evaluation of a current practice(s), and provide suggestions for change/innovation. Reflections on such a current practice(s) should include concrete examples of what is, what could be, and the rationale for making the change/innovation. We are also interested in reflections that evaluate innovations that have been implemented. Authors should make explicit the conceptual understanding that underpins the discussion and attempt to move the field and their own teaching practice forward in some way, for example by endorsing a particular issue/practice or advocating for particular suggestions made by others. Reflections should strive to set directions for future practice or innovations in teaching and learning by persuading readers that things could be different. Reflections are peer reviewed by the editorial team. [1000-2000 words].

Book Reviews: Reviews must clearly explore the implications of the book to the research and/or practice of teaching and educational scholarship from the reviewer’s perspective [1500-2500 words].

From the Desk of…: These invited articles are opinion-based essays usually revolving around an important or timely subject by a person who has gained prominence in the field of tertiary education.

Manuscript Submission

Authors should submit their article to info@ajsotl.edu.sg. All final submissions must be in Word or PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. There are no publication or submission fees for authors.

All manuscripts submitted to AJSoTL must be original works which have not been previously published, must be submitted exclusively to AJSoTL and all authors have read the manuscripts and approved their submission for review.

Following acceptance, the Publisher reserves copyright of all published materials and such materials may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.

Statements in articles are the responsibility of the authors.

Manuscript Review Policy

Standard masked peer review procedures are used for all submissions.

Referees. At the time of manuscript submission, author(s) may provide the names, affiliations and e-mail addresses of up to 3 potential reviewers. The suggested reviewers should not be from the same institution as the authors, and at least two referees should be from countries other than those of the authors. The Editors retain the right to decide whether or not the reviewers suggested by the authors will be invited to participate in the review process. The authors may also indicate names of referees who, in their opinion, should not participate in the review process. Again, the Editors will have the sole right to make decisions on this matter. Suggested reviewers will be considered alongside potential reviewers recommended by Editorial Board members or other advisers.

Manuscript Preparation and Style

The Title Page should contain:

1. The title of the article (do not use abbreviations);2. The full name of each author with maximum of three degrees (underline family name);3. Positions of authors and names of departments and institutions to which they are attached;4. A short running head of no more than 40 characters (count letters and spaces); and5. Name, address, telephone, email and fax numbers of author for correspondence.

Authorship

Authorship of articles should be limited to those who have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. These include:

1. Conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data, or both,2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and3. Final approval of the version to be published.4. All other forms of participation such as general support by departmental chairman, financial and material support, grants, secretarial support, scientific advice, etc, should be mentioned as acknowledgments at the end of the paper.5. Any change in authors (e.g. additions, deletions or change of order) after the initial manuscript submission must be approved by all authors. An explanation of the change must be submitted to AJSoTL, signed by all authors, including the added/moved/removed authors.

Abstract

1. A succinct and factual abstract is required (maximum length 250 words). The abstract should state the purpose of the research, the method(s) used, the major results obtained, and key conclusions.2. Please note that From the Desk of…, and Book Reviews do not require an Abstract.

The Text

1. Use a 12-point typeface.2. System Internationale (SI) units should be used for measurements.3. Do not begin sentences with a numerical figure. Numbers should be spelt out in words if they lead a sentence.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

For all manuscripts reporting data from studies involving human participants (or animals), standard institutional review board (IRB) procedures must be followed and approval sought by the author(s). Author(s) should signal that approval has been sought and given before submitting an article for AJSoTL review consideration.

Statistical Methods

Any statistical method used should be detailed in the methods section of the paper and any not in common use should be described in detail and supported by references.

Acknowledgements

At the end of the text; one or more statements could specify:

contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship;

acknowledgements of technical help and/or financial and material support.

References

1. The author(s) will take full responsibility for the accuracy of citations included in the article.

2. Citations in the text: The authors must ensure that every reference cited in the text is included in the reference list (and vice versa). Only published and readily accessible works must be included in the reference list; unpublished results and personal communications may only be mentioned in the text. Works that have been accepted for publication must be cited as “in press”. The full URL and the last date of access should be given for web references. Web references should also be included in the reference list.

3. AJSoTL uses the APA referencing style.

4. Whichever referencing style is used, authors must be consistent with one style across the document.

Artwork, Multimedia and Supporting Information

Tables

1. Place each table on a new page.2. Give each table a number (in Roman numeral, e.g. Table 1, 2, etc) and a title. Number tables in the order of which they are mentioned in the text.3. Provide a footnote to each table, identifying in alphabetical order all abbreviations used.

Figures

1. Acceptable formats are Adobe Photoshop, .jpg and .tif, and Microsoft PowerPoint, .ppt. To ensure high-quality printing, resolution of 300 dpi or higher is preferred. A separate file should be submitted for each figure.2. Size of photos and drawings should not exceed 150 x 200 mm.3. Figures should be professionally drawn; freehand lettering is unacceptable.4. Use black ink for all charts and line drawings. Make decimals, broken lines, etc. strong enough for reproduction. Bar charts should be one-dimensional and only in tones of grey.5. Use arrows to designate special features.6. Number figures in the order of which they are mentioned in the text.

Figure Legends

1. List all figure legends on a separate page.2. All abbreviations used in the figures are to be identified and explained in the corresponding legends.

Audio and Video Files

Audio files, if any, should be submitted in MP3, Windows Media audio (.wma) and Advanced Audio Coding (.aac) formats. Video clips may be used to present information on dynamic teaching and learning processes. For videos, MPEG, Quicktime and Audio Video Interleave (.avi) formats are acceptable. Each audio/video file may not exceed 5MB. Overall, they should not exceed 10MB for the manuscript. File names such as aud1.wma, aud2.wma, vid1.avi etc. may be used to facilitate easy editorial processing.

The video files are to be prepared in a manner that keeps the files size as small as possible. Some parameters are suggested:

Frame size: 480 X 360 pixels

Frame speed: 15 per second or more

Maximum data rate 150 kB/s

Time: 5 minutes or less per video file

Authors should provide a thumbnail (i.e. a relevant frame still from the actual video clip that they feel isrepresentative of the content of the video) which will be used as an image that AJSoTL readers can click onto start playback of the video. The still image should have the same pixel dimensions as the source video file.

If any copyrighted figure, table, audio or video material is used in the submitted manuscript, the authors must get all the necessary clearances. The authors will be asked to sign a declaration to this effect before the final publication of the manuscript.

Copyediting and Page Proofs

Authors may be required to revise their manuscripts for reasons of style and content.

Compliance by authors to requested revisions does not automatically bind AJSoTL to publish any article.

The lead author will receive page proofs for correction of typographical errors only. No rewriting of the accepted manuscript will be allowed in the proof stage.

Since 2014, Vol 4 (2), this work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International